Back at the end of October, the midfielder was hounded in some quarters for his performance during Newcastle United’s 1-0 defeat at Burnley - with some supporters questioning why Rafa Benitez had ever signed the Senegalese midfielder in the first place.

Fast-forward five months, and Diame is now one of Newcastle’s most in-form players and has even turned himself into a bit of a cult figure on Tyneside.

The 30-year-old’s powerful and destructive performances in midfield have helped to liberate Jonjo Shelvey, with the pair complementing one another perfectly. That midfield duo were pivotal to Newcastle’s back-to-back home victories against Manchester United and Southampton.

Yet Diame’s recent form has not surprised Benitez; the Spaniard knew exactly the type of player he was buying when he convinced the United board to pay Hull City £4.5million for the midfielder during the summer of 2016.

Mo Diame (Image: Newcastle United)

A towering presence in midfield, Benitez saw Diame as an attacking outlet in the physical second tier - and a destructive defensive force in the top flight once promotion was achieved.

It has clearly irked Benitez that Diame’s displays have been questioned so vehemently - the United manager was even adamant during the first half of the campaign that the midfielder was doing an excellent job for the team - and the Spaniard is pleased to see the former Senegal international now being praised by fans.

“It’s very funny what has happened with Diame and how some people have seen him since he’s been here,” Benitez responded when asked about the midfielder’s recent emergence as one of the Magpies’ star performers.

“When he was in Spain, playing for Rayo Vallecano, he was playing as a midfielder. So I knew that he is a midfielder.

“But then some of the fans said: ‘Oh, why does Rafa always play Diame as a second-striker?’ It’s because in the Championship, he did well as a second-striker [at both Hull and Newcastle] because his power was good, he was winning balls in the air, getting into the box, and all these things.

Newcastle United Manager Rafael Benitez during the Newcastle United Training session at the Newcastle United Training Centre on March 22, 2018, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England (Image: Newcastle United)

“Then when we were playing him as a second-striker, some people were always criticising him.

“Now we are playing him as a midfielder, and some people are saying: ‘Oh, Rafa, he didn’t realise that Diame was a midfielder, but he has realised now.’

“No. We knew already. When he was playing in Spain, we had seen how he played out there in that position.”

In the Championship last season, Diame and Ayoze Perez rotated in the No 10 role behind the central-striker for Newcastle.

Diame contributed three goals and three assists - as well as a further three strikes in the cups - while he also netted 10 times in the second tier during the 2015/16 campaign for Hull.

At times, Diame did not always appears comfortable in that second-striker role; he is not the most technically-gifted midfielder, while he clearly prefers to play from deep rather than with his back to goal.

However, Diame’s offensive power helped deliver Newcastle promotion and the Championship title - and, long term, Benitez knew he could adapt the midfielder’s role.

Interestingly, when Benitez and his coaching staff were drawing up their squad for the Premier League during the off-season, Diame was always pencilled in as a holding-midfielder, rather than as a second-striker as he had been previously.

Benitez instructed his recruitment team to find a No 10 - a whole host of names were put forward, but none proved attainable during either the summer nor January windows - in order for Diame to shift deeper.

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That is why Jack Colback and Henri Saivet were made surplus to requirements because, alongside Shelvey, Isaac Hayden and Mikel Merino, Diame was the last of the four midfielders Benitez believed his squad needed in order to compete in the top flight.

During Diame’s time in Spain with Rayo Vallecano - when then-Liverpool manager Benitez is believed to have scouted the midfielder in 2009 - Diame played in the deep-lying position in which he is now excelling.

He did likewise for Wigan Athletic and West Ham United in the Premier League, disrupting the opposition, winning possession in the middle and then breaking forward from deep.

This season he has resumed such a role - and he has turned himself into the perfect foil for Shelvey’s creativity and ingenuity.

“We needed to manage our positions, and we knew Diame could do that [defensive role] for us,” Benitez added.

“This year, at the beginning of the summer when we decided the squad, Diame was one of the midfielders. So we were looking for a No 10 to compete in this position that we couldn’t find, but Diame was always a midfielder for us this season.

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“The reason why Colback and Saivet were not in the squad at the beginning was because Diame was a midfielder.

“We knew what he could do and I’m really pleased because he is doing really, really well now.

“It’s just about competition. Hayden was a young player, coming in, improving and getting better. Now he has to compete against Diame - that is good.”

Diame will be one of the first names on the teamsheet for Newcastle’s huge relegation clash with Huddersfield Town at St James’ Park on Saturday, when he is set to resume his partnership with Shelvey following an enforced three-week break.

If Diame performs just as well as they did against Southampton last time out, then Newcastle should take another giant step towards survival. That is how influential the Senegalese midfielder has become in recent months.